[Gpdd] HEALTH ;Wet tail tips on feeding

davedave121 at aol.com davedave121 at aol.com
Wed Jul 9 06:30:15 EDT 2008


Hi jenn
I hope you got my email last night, I’m not to good with computers , if 
not I will reiterate
We have had quite a few sick piggy’s and a rabbit over the years that 
we have needed to syringe feed, I will tell you what I have learned in 
the hope it will be some use to you.

Firstly you need to take a poo sample to your vet and ask him/her to 
send it to the labourites to be analysed , this is relatively 
expensive, but believe me it can well pay for it’s self, in avoiding 
the hit and miss use of medications that some vet’s seam to favour .

Secondary  use 1ml syringe (from your vet, ask him for 5 or 6, as they 
only last about 10 feeds)
The 1 ml syringe is 3 inches long and 1quarter inch wide.
Don’t cut off the end right off, just cut off the part that takes the 
needle , then ream out the hole with the point of a Stanley blade, to 
make it large enough to squeeze out the paste, but not that large that 
the plunger can get out.
Put a towel on your knee and Hold your pig with your hand over her 
head, and with your finger and thumb gently squeeze her cheeks until 
mouth opens , be gentle this is a new experience for her an she needs 
to learn to trust the procedure.

With the 1 ml syringe (3 in) you need to put it in her mouth till it 
just passes the molars, keep it there and empty it in 3 to 4 gentle but 
positive pushes on the plunger. Slow and easy is the name of the game, 
never give her more than 1 ml, then wait until you are sure she has 
digested it before giving her another, and only about 4-5 ml in any one 
sitting. Little and often, I would feed your piggy every 3-4 hours, 
giving her the last feed at 1.00 am, and then give her first morning 
feed at 6-7 am, preferably 6 pm.

Critical care is excellent but you also need a reinforced probiotic to 
get her  digestive system started up again. Ask your vet for Fibreplex, 
it comes in a 15 ml syringe, and I think the dosage is 2 ml 4 times a 
day.
Don’t through the old Fiberplex syringe as these are extremely useful 
in weaning piggy of syringe feeds, as you can mix progressively 
thicker, up to near solid  pastes , and the Fiberplex syringe is robust 
enough to deal with it, it also has a dose measuring ring that will 
allow you  to administer  almost dry little pellets .

In addition to Fiberplex, Avipro plus  is a useful probiotic as it also 
contains  electrolytes’  to re hydrate her and all important vit c.
I personally give 1 ml of paste then half a ml of Avipro plus solution 
to wash the past down. She will soon let you know what she is most 
comfortable with.

Some advocate the use of diocarm tablets (not the capsules, to many 
chemicals) for diarear  1 quarter of a tablet I’m not sure (it’s in 
Gina links) but personally  I have never found them effective .

Take her wait`, this is wery important to show you what progress she is 
making.

When she is positively gaining whait and looking better in her self, 
this could take weeks, be patient , start feeding alternate feeds of 
her preferred dried food , milled in a coffee bean grinder to a fine 
powder and mix it to a paste with water (don’t be tempted to do what I 
did once and mix it with liquidized veg, this could just give her gas 
and make the problem worse).

Once you are happy she is out of the woods,  phase her of the critical 
care and start to thicken the milled dried food mix slowly  over a 
period of days until the paste very thick and this is where the 
Fiberplex syringe come in really handy , you  will now be able to 
administer little quarter inch long almost dry pellets just to the 
centre of her molars, and encourage her to start eating  for her self.

This is all time consuming and it could take from a few weeks to 
several months , you will really, and I mean really , get to know you 
pig.  And it is unbelievably rewarding .

Yours with our very best wishes,
 Dave,Yvonne, and the herd at PP  UK





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